It’s been a rough year for some NBA fans in 2013. The season is well underway at this point, with all teams having played at least 20 games. The problem? Only two teams in the Eastern Conference have winning records. So if you like a team in the East, odds are that you’ve sat through some really bad basketball up to this point.

The Western Conference on the other hand, is as competitive as ever. It’s so competitive in fact, that the Dallas Mavericks at 13-10, are currently out of the playoff picture. If they played in the East, they’d be in much better shape at the three spot.

This fact is likely frustrating to many players, with Dirk Nowitzki being one of them. Here’s what the star forward had to say on the difference between the two conferences:

“If you look at the Western Conference, the quality so high. The teams are bunched up right there. We can beat each other every given night. It’s not like the Eastern Conference, where you just roll through.”

Roll through, is exactly what the Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers are going to do in this year’s East. It’s not even Christmas and it’s a pretty safe bet that those will be the two teams playing the Eastern Conference finals. As for the West, who knows? To say that the teams are ‘bunched up’ is putting it lightly.

The unfortunate part about the lack of balance in the NBA, is that you can’t really do anything about it. Over time, you just have to hope it corrects itself via draft picks and free agency. Obviously, that doesn’t make Dirk and the Mavs feel any better.